winters



(No Modl.) 2 sheets-sheen 2.

J. G. WINTERS.

METHOD 0I AND APPARATUS FOR FILLING UANS AND PRESERVING THEIR y CONTENTS. V N 4895. I Patented \Ma,r. 14.1882

921A Homey,

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` Unire@ States Errea@ .attent JOHNO. wtNrERs, OF MOUNT MORRts, New' YORK.

METHOD 0F AND APPARATUS FOR FILLING CANS AND PRESERVING THEIR CONTENTS. l

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 254,895, dated March 14, 1882.

Application tiled February' 1, 1SS2. (No model.)

Toall 'whom fit may coiwcra:

Be it known that l, JOHN C. WINTERs,'a citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Morris, inthe county of Livingston and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Method ot' and Apparatus for Filling Cans. and Preserving their Contents; and l do hereby declare the following` to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or gures of reference marked thereon, whichY form a partot this specification.

The object of this invention is to facilitate the. canning or preserving ot't'ruit, vegetables, meats, Sto.; and the invention relates, first, to an improved method ofsupplying the fruit, &c., in the cans orjars with the requisite quantity of liquid; and, second, to means for this end.

The invention consists in passing the cans, jars, or other vessels containing the fruit or other materials, in accordance withthe time required for what is technically known as proccssing the material, through a bath ot the preservin g-liq uid keptat the required temperature for effecting the processin This processing'may be the application to the matter in the cans ot' a hot or cold liquid, sirup, or pickle, whereby the said matter may be cooked or partially cooked, or Ain condition for subsequent treatment, which may or not be necessary, and sealing.

The invention consists, also, in an apparatus combining atub or tank, guides or ways, and an endless revolving carrier with operatin g mechanism for such carrier, whereby fruits and other matter in cans, jars, or other receptacles prepared for preservation may be passed through a liquid or liquor in such tankin such regulated time as to ei'ect the processing thereof.

`In the accompanying drawings, in the several figures of which like parts are similarly desigout limiting my said method to it I will proceed to describe in detail its construction. This apparatus isin the drawings shown as double, with parts omitted from one side in order to illustrate some ofthe details. A double apparatus is equivalent to one twice as long, wand the converse of this is true; but the apparatus can bc used double with an increased economy of length ot' Operating room. I will simply describe one side of this apparatus, as` each side (two or more being used) is a duplicate in every particular ofthe other.

c is a liquid-tight tank, ot wood or other material, with or without anon-oxidiz'ible or noncorrosive lining, b, and supported upon suitable legs or in a framing.

c c are rotary shafts at each end of the tank, supported in bearin gs connected with the tankframing. These shafts are provided with sprocket-wheels d d, keyed or otherwise fast thereon-two at each lend ofthe tank-which receive and move endless chain belts e e. These belts extend longitudinally of and within the tank at opposite sides, and are supported at the ends thereof by guide rollers or pulleysff, hung within the tank atits upper edge Y whence said belts pass down into the tank and under other guide rollers or pulleys, g g, on pins near the bottom ot' the tank.` Outside the tank these beltsare guided and supported by pulleys or rollers t lz, suitably mounted beneath the tank, so that said belts surround the tank longitudinally. rlhey are connected at regulated intervals, according to the uses to which the apparatus is to be put, by cross-lags 13 z', so

`thatthe two chains with their lags, being moved "together ands y nchronousl y, become practically one member; and 1 have herein designated this part of my apparatus the carrien7 As will be understood, the sprocket-wheels cause a positive movement of the carrier.

Upon the bottom ot' the tank, on opposite sides, arc arranged parallel guides or ways jj,

is for the purpose of retaining the article in the carrier within the said guides, thus insuring its progress throughtheapparatus. The guides are adj ustahly secured to the tank by means of transverse slots aand set-screws, whereby the distance between theparallel guides maybe varied in accordance with the work to be done. The guides are arranged with their iianges m next adjacent the sides ot' the tank. Similarly slotted and anged guides 0having a horizontal central portion and upwardly-inclined ends, as with the guides j, are arranged over the guidesj, theirilanges projecting downwardly in the vertical plane of the langes of the said guidesj. rIhese guides o are suspended within the tank by brackets p, which are secured to the sides of the tank by set screws or bolts arranged in vertical slots in said brackets, so as to admit of the vertical adjustment of the guides o to permit the treatment of cans, jars, &c., of diii'erent heights, as the slots in the guides admit of a varying proximity thereot' to permit the treatment of cans of dii'erent diameters.

q is a perforated pipe arranged within the tank, and having a cock, r, by means of which a regulated quantity ot' hot water or steam to heat the water in the tank may be supplied; and, inasmuch as the apparatus may be used alike for processingwith Water or siru p, I also provide an imperforate coiled pipe, s, with a cock, t, whereby steam-heat or hot water may be employed for heating the same. The coiled pipe will ot' course bea return-pipe, and the perforated pipe have a closed end within the tank.

Inasmuch as diti'erent fruits, vegetables, &c.,

require different lengths of time to complete their processing, it becomes necessary to provide a machine of this character with means for obtaining various speeds from fast to very slow. To this end I provide a driving-shaft,

. u, geared by large and small cog-wheels l 2,

respectively, with one ot' the shafts c, and provide it with a cone-pulley, c, to which the power may be applied for revolving the sprocketwheelssupportingthecarrier. Thecog-wheels l and 2 will be so attached to their respective shafts, as by gibs, keys, o r set-screws, as to be interchangeable in order to vary the speed. In order to get the slowest speed, I may employ a bracket, fw, in which is supported a counter-shaft, 3, which is connected by beveled gearing 4 5 with the driving-shaft a, from which it is revolved. This eounter-shaft3 has a worm, 6, which meshes with a worm-gear, 7, on the sprocket-wheel shaft c, whereby rotary motion is imparted to it.

In practicing my method of filling cans and preserving their contents by means of this apparatus, I use the projecting ends Z l ot' the guides j j as a table, upon which, between adjacent lags ofthe carrier, I place a tray filled with cans. (See dotted lines, Figs. l and 2.) This tray tits in between the flanges of the lower guides when they are properly adjusted,

. and the upper guides are raised or lowered to such height as to permit the cans in the tray to just pass under them. The can-tilted tray,

held on the carrier by its lags, is then, by the revolving of the carrier, moved down between the proximate inclined ends ofthe guides into the bath in the tank. With some substances enough liquid can be got into the can through the vent-hole; with others the can top or cap willbe left oft'. The cans obtain thisliquid by reason ot' their being immersed in the liquid. That motion is given to the carrier which will aft'ord the requisite length ot' time for the cans to be immersed in the liquid to eti'ect their tilling and the processing, cooking, or preserving of their contents; and the cans are kept in motion progressivelythrough the bath and emerge at the opposite end ot' the machine, where they are removed with their tray from between the lags of the carrier, the cans being dry externally by reason of the well-known disinclination ofhotliquid to remain in afree state upon metal, and the hotcontents aiding thereto.

Any conveniently-manageable number ot' trays may be upon the carrier at a time, and

thus the output of a packing establishment may be greatly increased.

While the most economical results may be accomplished by placing the cans in trays, still I can equally as well feed the cans through one by one, simply by arranging them to be moved by the carrier between the upper and lower guides.

What I claim is- 1. The method ot' filling cans and preserving their contents, the same consisting in mechanically passing such cans through the tilting liquid at a rate ot' speed commensurate with the length ot' time required for the-processin g ot' their contents, substantially as described.

2. A water-tight tank, an endless carrier passing through such tank, and guides in said tank for the article carried by such carrier, combined substantially as showuand described.

3. A machine for filling cans and preserving their contents, the same consisting of a watertighttank, an endless carrier traveling through said tank, means to move such lcarrier at a regulated speed, variable at pleasure, and guides through which the carrier moves in taking its burden through the apparatus, substantially as shown and described.

4. The water-tight tank, an endless carrier, adapted to travel therethrough, and adjustable guides, combined substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The water-tighttank,endless belts adapted. to travel therethrough, lags connecting said belts transversely to forward positively the article supported by said belts, and guides for retaining in the proper position the article carried by said belts, combined substantially as described.

6. The water-tight tank, the endless carrier, two sets of guides adj ustable`horizontally toward or from each other, one set of such guides being also adjustable vertically to vary the dis- IOO IIO

254,595 t i s tance between the two sets, substantially as like receptacles may be supplied with the reqand for the purpose described. usite quantity of liquid and preserved, sub- 7. A water-tight tank, heating apparatus stantially as described. within the same to keep its contents at a given In testimony whereof I affix my signature in 5 temperature, an endless carrier, und guides, presence of two witnesses.

and means to operate said carrier to cause it to forward its burden in the path of the guides JOHN (J WINTERS' through the contents of said tank at a given Witnesses: uniform rate of speed, whereby fruit, vegeta- J. ML HAs'lING, zo bles, and other material in cans7jars, or other GEO. M. SHULL. 

